Mars rover to brave 'black diamond' slope
By Dave Santucci
CNN
 |  A magnified view of a rock surface inside Endurance Crater about 2.4 inches on each side. |
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|  VIDEO |
 Mars rover Opportunity to explore Endurance crater. (May 7)
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(CNN) -- Most skiers are familiar with the slope of an expert, or black diamond, trail -- about 30 degrees, on average.
But that isn't stopping engineers who designed the Mars rover from considering sending the rover Opportunity down one even steeper.
"It's really, really nice to see that we are able to fully realize the design capabilities of the vehicle," Mars Rover engineer Chris Voorhees told reporters at a NASA briefing Friday.
Before NASA takes the plunge, tests must be completed with engineering mock-up rovers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Initial results show that despite the intense grade of the slope -- 35 to 40 degrees -- the slippage of the wheels is acceptable. Further testing will need to be done before the rover is given the go-ahead.
Scientists initially drove the rover into Endurance Crater to look for more evidence of ancient water on Mars. Opportunity first discovered evidence of ancient water in March in Eagle crater, where the rover landed.
The Opportunity Rover now sits about 20 feet inside the rim of Endurance Crater. It had to drive down a 20-degree slope to get there. But NASA will have to drive the rover down a 35-to-40 degree slope if they want to gather more data.
"The concern isn't 'will we be able to get down,'" said Voorhees. "The concern is 'will we be able to get back up and out.'"
The fruits of NASA's labor paid off and Endurance crater has also shown evidence of ancient water on Mars.
But that's not enough for the principal investigator for the Mars rover missions, Steve Squyres. He is very interested in "getting to the bottom" of the over 60-foot-deep crater.
According to Squyres, the question is not whether there once was water in Endurance crater, the question is how much.
"I don't think we have compelling evidence for an ocean," rather the evidence points toward repeated wetting and drying of the surface. Most likely, water percolating up from the surface and evaporating over and over -- leaving behind more salt than scientists initially expected, Squyres said.
"We might actually be able to find the bottom of this thing," Squyres said, and if the rover does take the plunge down the steep slope, scientists say they will be able to tell just how much water was once in this area on Mars.
